Emmadean Yowell Berry, a longtime resident of Grand Prairie, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010, at the age of 93.
Service: 2 p.m. Monday at First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie. Interment: Moore Memorial Gardens in Arlington. Visitation: 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Bean-Massey-Burge Funeral Home in Grand Prairie.
Memorials: For those wishing to make contributions in her honor, the family suggests First Baptist Church, 122 NE 2nd St., Grand Prairie, Texas 75050, or Soroptimist of Grand Prairie, 121 SW Dallas St., Grand Prairie, Texas 75050.
Emmadean was born in 1916 to John Franklin Yowell and Grace Gibbons Yowell, who farmed and ranched in Montague County near Stoneburg where Emmadean was born. She loved her childhood years and enjoyed telling her grandchildren and great-grandchildren about her three sisters and one brother and their chores of milking cows before school, herding turkeys on horseback, gathering eggs, picking cotton and the long days spent canning and preserving the fruits and vegetables from her family's abundant orchards and fields. She was also very proud of her perfect attendance record for all of her grade school and high school years. And she had the certificates to prove it!
She married Wilbur Jasper Berry in 1933 and they lived in Montague and Clay counties, where their three children were born, until moving to Grand Prairie in 1942. There Mr. Berry began work for North American Aviation while Mrs. Berry decided to apply to a company that examined X-rays of military airplane parts looking for defects to help with the war effort. She negotiated an agreement with them to bring her 5-year-old son, Ronnie, along while she worked. This was unusual even in those days, but she said he quietly looked at books while she worked and the agreement held.
She was extremely civic-minded and was instrumental in the founding of Soroptimist International of Grand Prairie in which she was very active until nearly the time of her death. She considered her fellow Soroptimists to be her good friends and valued them greatly. She was also instrumental in founding the Grand Prairie Women's Club and the Grand Prairie United Charities. She also helped to found the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce and later became its first female manager. In 1980, she was honored with a lifetime chamber membership.
Mrs. Berry served as president of the Federation of Women's Club, the Toastmistress Club, the local Business and Professional Women's Club and the PTA as well as serving on the city's planning and zoning committee and its water and planning commissions.
In 1960, she started her own highly successful business, Emmadean Berry Realtor. She served as director of her professional real estate organizations on the local, state and national levels. She received the 1992 Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Association of Realtors, and in 1970 and 1989 was given the Realtor of the Year Award. After her retirement until the time of her death, she was named an honorary member of the Grand Prairie Board of Realtors.
Among many other past honors she was particularly proud of being selected as second runner-up in the Mrs. America Pageant in Texas and by her three-time designation in the late 1940s to represent Grand Prairie in the grand entry at the Fort Worth Rodeo.
She was sustained by a strong faith and was a member of First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie, where for many years she served at the registration desk, welcoming visitors and members to the church. She was a strong, self-reliant Texas woman who honored her commitments and fulfilled her duties wholeheartedly and with integrity.
Mrs. Berry greatly loved her family and always supported and encouraged them in their activities and interests. She considered her descendants to be her greatest legacy and she hoped that she was able to instill in them her values of faith, hard work, perseverance, ethics and community service.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Wilbur Jasper Berry; and one daughter, Anita Berry Martin.
Survivors: Daughter, Greta Berry Beckler of Arlington; son, Ronald Lewis Berry Sr. and his wife, Genelle, of Houston; grandchildren, Bryan Beckler, Bradley Beckler and wife, Sheree, Cynthia Berry Ollig and husband, Alex, Catherine Berry and husband, David Hamburger, Ronald Berry Jr., and Elizabeth Berry and husband, Patrick Hughey; great-grandchildren, Misty Beckler Dunbar and husband, Jason, Lacy Beckler, Tommy Beckler, Audrey Beckler, Max Ollig, Milo Hamburger and Annabelle Hamburger; and great-great-grandchild, Madison Dunbar.
Published in Star-Telegram on February 21, 2010
Service: 2 p.m. Monday at First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie. Interment: Moore Memorial Gardens in Arlington. Visitation: 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Bean-Massey-Burge Funeral Home in Grand Prairie.
Memorials: For those wishing to make contributions in her honor, the family suggests First Baptist Church, 122 NE 2nd St., Grand Prairie, Texas 75050, or Soroptimist of Grand Prairie, 121 SW Dallas St., Grand Prairie, Texas 75050.
Emmadean was born in 1916 to John Franklin Yowell and Grace Gibbons Yowell, who farmed and ranched in Montague County near Stoneburg where Emmadean was born. She loved her childhood years and enjoyed telling her grandchildren and great-grandchildren about her three sisters and one brother and their chores of milking cows before school, herding turkeys on horseback, gathering eggs, picking cotton and the long days spent canning and preserving the fruits and vegetables from her family's abundant orchards and fields. She was also very proud of her perfect attendance record for all of her grade school and high school years. And she had the certificates to prove it!
She married Wilbur Jasper Berry in 1933 and they lived in Montague and Clay counties, where their three children were born, until moving to Grand Prairie in 1942. There Mr. Berry began work for North American Aviation while Mrs. Berry decided to apply to a company that examined X-rays of military airplane parts looking for defects to help with the war effort. She negotiated an agreement with them to bring her 5-year-old son, Ronnie, along while she worked. This was unusual even in those days, but she said he quietly looked at books while she worked and the agreement held.
She was extremely civic-minded and was instrumental in the founding of Soroptimist International of Grand Prairie in which she was very active until nearly the time of her death. She considered her fellow Soroptimists to be her good friends and valued them greatly. She was also instrumental in founding the Grand Prairie Women's Club and the Grand Prairie United Charities. She also helped to found the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce and later became its first female manager. In 1980, she was honored with a lifetime chamber membership.
Mrs. Berry served as president of the Federation of Women's Club, the Toastmistress Club, the local Business and Professional Women's Club and the PTA as well as serving on the city's planning and zoning committee and its water and planning commissions.
In 1960, she started her own highly successful business, Emmadean Berry Realtor. She served as director of her professional real estate organizations on the local, state and national levels. She received the 1992 Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Association of Realtors, and in 1970 and 1989 was given the Realtor of the Year Award. After her retirement until the time of her death, she was named an honorary member of the Grand Prairie Board of Realtors.
Among many other past honors she was particularly proud of being selected as second runner-up in the Mrs. America Pageant in Texas and by her three-time designation in the late 1940s to represent Grand Prairie in the grand entry at the Fort Worth Rodeo.
She was sustained by a strong faith and was a member of First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie, where for many years she served at the registration desk, welcoming visitors and members to the church. She was a strong, self-reliant Texas woman who honored her commitments and fulfilled her duties wholeheartedly and with integrity.
Mrs. Berry greatly loved her family and always supported and encouraged them in their activities and interests. She considered her descendants to be her greatest legacy and she hoped that she was able to instill in them her values of faith, hard work, perseverance, ethics and community service.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Wilbur Jasper Berry; and one daughter, Anita Berry Martin.
Survivors: Daughter, Greta Berry Beckler of Arlington; son, Ronald Lewis Berry Sr. and his wife, Genelle, of Houston; grandchildren, Bryan Beckler, Bradley Beckler and wife, Sheree, Cynthia Berry Ollig and husband, Alex, Catherine Berry and husband, David Hamburger, Ronald Berry Jr., and Elizabeth Berry and husband, Patrick Hughey; great-grandchildren, Misty Beckler Dunbar and husband, Jason, Lacy Beckler, Tommy Beckler, Audrey Beckler, Max Ollig, Milo Hamburger and Annabelle Hamburger; and great-great-grandchild, Madison Dunbar.
Published in Star-Telegram on February 21, 2010
Emmadean Yowell Berry, a longtime resident of Grand Prairie, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010, at the age of 93.
Service: 2 p.m. Monday at First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie. Interment: Moore Memorial Gardens in Arlington. Visitation: 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Bean-Massey-Burge Funeral Home in Grand Prairie.
Memorials: For those wishing to make contributions in her honor, the family suggests First Baptist Church, 122 NE 2nd St., Grand Prairie, Texas 75050, or Soroptimist of Grand Prairie, 121 SW Dallas St., Grand Prairie, Texas 75050.
Emmadean was born in 1916 to John Franklin Yowell and Grace Gibbons Yowell, who farmed and ranched in Montague County near Stoneburg where Emmadean was born. She loved her childhood years and enjoyed telling her grandchildren and great-grandchildren about her three sisters and one brother and their chores of milking cows before school, herding turkeys on horseback, gathering eggs, picking cotton and the long days spent canning and preserving the fruits and vegetables from her family's abundant orchards and fields. She was also very proud of her perfect attendance record for all of her grade school and high school years. And she had the certificates to prove it!
She married Wilbur Jasper Berry in 1933 and they lived in Montague and Clay counties, where their three children were born, until moving to Grand Prairie in 1942. There Mr. Berry began work for North American Aviation while Mrs. Berry decided to apply to a company that examined X-rays of military airplane parts looking for defects to help with the war effort. She negotiated an agreement with them to bring her 5-year-old son, Ronnie, along while she worked. This was unusual even in those days, but she said he quietly looked at books while she worked and the agreement held.
She was extremely civic-minded and was instrumental in the founding of Soroptimist International of Grand Prairie in which she was very active until nearly the time of her death. She considered her fellow Soroptimists to be her good friends and valued them greatly. She was also instrumental in founding the Grand Prairie Women's Club and the Grand Prairie United Charities. She also helped to found the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce and later became its first female manager. In 1980, she was honored with a lifetime chamber membership.
Mrs. Berry served as president of the Federation of Women's Club, the Toastmistress Club, the local Business and Professional Women's Club and the PTA as well as serving on the city's planning and zoning committee and its water and planning commissions.
In 1960, she started her own highly successful business, Emmadean Berry Realtor. She served as director of her professional real estate organizations on the local, state and national levels. She received the 1992 Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Association of Realtors, and in 1970 and 1989 was given the Realtor of the Year Award. After her retirement until the time of her death, she was named an honorary member of the Grand Prairie Board of Realtors.
Among many other past honors she was particularly proud of being selected as second runner-up in the Mrs. America Pageant in Texas and by her three-time designation in the late 1940s to represent Grand Prairie in the grand entry at the Fort Worth Rodeo.
She was sustained by a strong faith and was a member of First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie, where for many years she served at the registration desk, welcoming visitors and members to the church. She was a strong, self-reliant Texas woman who honored her commitments and fulfilled her duties wholeheartedly and with integrity.
Mrs. Berry greatly loved her family and always supported and encouraged them in their activities and interests. She considered her descendants to be her greatest legacy and she hoped that she was able to instill in them her values of faith, hard work, perseverance, ethics and community service.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Wilbur Jasper Berry; and one daughter, Anita Berry Martin.
Survivors: Daughter, Greta Berry Beckler of Arlington; son, Ronald Lewis Berry Sr. and his wife, Genelle, of Houston; grandchildren, Bryan Beckler, Bradley Beckler and wife, Sheree, Cynthia Berry Ollig and husband, Alex, Catherine Berry and husband, David Hamburger, Ronald Berry Jr., and Elizabeth Berry and husband, Patrick Hughey; great-grandchildren, Misty Beckler Dunbar and husband, Jason, Lacy Beckler, Tommy Beckler, Audrey Beckler, Max Ollig, Milo Hamburger and Annabelle Hamburger; and great-great-grandchild, Madison Dunbar.
Published in Star-Telegram on February 21, 2010
Service: 2 p.m. Monday at First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie. Interment: Moore Memorial Gardens in Arlington. Visitation: 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Bean-Massey-Burge Funeral Home in Grand Prairie.
Memorials: For those wishing to make contributions in her honor, the family suggests First Baptist Church, 122 NE 2nd St., Grand Prairie, Texas 75050, or Soroptimist of Grand Prairie, 121 SW Dallas St., Grand Prairie, Texas 75050.
Emmadean was born in 1916 to John Franklin Yowell and Grace Gibbons Yowell, who farmed and ranched in Montague County near Stoneburg where Emmadean was born. She loved her childhood years and enjoyed telling her grandchildren and great-grandchildren about her three sisters and one brother and their chores of milking cows before school, herding turkeys on horseback, gathering eggs, picking cotton and the long days spent canning and preserving the fruits and vegetables from her family's abundant orchards and fields. She was also very proud of her perfect attendance record for all of her grade school and high school years. And she had the certificates to prove it!
She married Wilbur Jasper Berry in 1933 and they lived in Montague and Clay counties, where their three children were born, until moving to Grand Prairie in 1942. There Mr. Berry began work for North American Aviation while Mrs. Berry decided to apply to a company that examined X-rays of military airplane parts looking for defects to help with the war effort. She negotiated an agreement with them to bring her 5-year-old son, Ronnie, along while she worked. This was unusual even in those days, but she said he quietly looked at books while she worked and the agreement held.
She was extremely civic-minded and was instrumental in the founding of Soroptimist International of Grand Prairie in which she was very active until nearly the time of her death. She considered her fellow Soroptimists to be her good friends and valued them greatly. She was also instrumental in founding the Grand Prairie Women's Club and the Grand Prairie United Charities. She also helped to found the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce and later became its first female manager. In 1980, she was honored with a lifetime chamber membership.
Mrs. Berry served as president of the Federation of Women's Club, the Toastmistress Club, the local Business and Professional Women's Club and the PTA as well as serving on the city's planning and zoning committee and its water and planning commissions.
In 1960, she started her own highly successful business, Emmadean Berry Realtor. She served as director of her professional real estate organizations on the local, state and national levels. She received the 1992 Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Association of Realtors, and in 1970 and 1989 was given the Realtor of the Year Award. After her retirement until the time of her death, she was named an honorary member of the Grand Prairie Board of Realtors.
Among many other past honors she was particularly proud of being selected as second runner-up in the Mrs. America Pageant in Texas and by her three-time designation in the late 1940s to represent Grand Prairie in the grand entry at the Fort Worth Rodeo.
She was sustained by a strong faith and was a member of First Baptist Church of Grand Prairie, where for many years she served at the registration desk, welcoming visitors and members to the church. She was a strong, self-reliant Texas woman who honored her commitments and fulfilled her duties wholeheartedly and with integrity.
Mrs. Berry greatly loved her family and always supported and encouraged them in their activities and interests. She considered her descendants to be her greatest legacy and she hoped that she was able to instill in them her values of faith, hard work, perseverance, ethics and community service.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Wilbur Jasper Berry; and one daughter, Anita Berry Martin.
Survivors: Daughter, Greta Berry Beckler of Arlington; son, Ronald Lewis Berry Sr. and his wife, Genelle, of Houston; grandchildren, Bryan Beckler, Bradley Beckler and wife, Sheree, Cynthia Berry Ollig and husband, Alex, Catherine Berry and husband, David Hamburger, Ronald Berry Jr., and Elizabeth Berry and husband, Patrick Hughey; great-grandchildren, Misty Beckler Dunbar and husband, Jason, Lacy Beckler, Tommy Beckler, Audrey Beckler, Max Ollig, Milo Hamburger and Annabelle Hamburger; and great-great-grandchild, Madison Dunbar.
Published in Star-Telegram on February 21, 2010
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